JP7312426B2 - Ordered food and drink conveying equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a custom food delivery device.

In recent years, in restaurants, foods and drinks are provided using a conveying device (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).

JP 2016-152904 A

When transporting ordered food and drink, it is conceivable that the food and drink are placed on a belt conveyor leading from the kitchen to the audience seats. In this case, the next food cannot be delivered unless the customer removes the food on the belt conveyor. However, the kitchen staff may mistakenly put the food to be conveyed next on the belt conveyor while the food is being conveyed to the audience seats. If food is mistakenly put on the belt conveyor while it is in operation, the food is transported to an unintended audience seat.

Therefore, the present application discloses an ordered food and drink conveying apparatus capable of preventing the food and drink from being erroneously conveyed to unintended audience seats even if the food and drink are erroneously placed while the belt conveyor is in operation.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an opening/closing type stopper that can prevent the food placed on the belt conveyor from exiting the kitchen toward the seats.

More specifically, the present invention is an ordered food and drink conveying apparatus, comprising: a belt conveyor on which food and drink to be conveyed from a kitchen of a restaurant to customer seats are placed; an openable stopper provided in the middle of a conveying path formed by the belt conveyor and capable of preventing the food and drink placed on the belt conveyor from exiting the kitchen toward the customer seats; , provided.

In the ordered food and drink conveying device, the gate closes when the food and drink placed on the belt conveyor leave the kitchen. Therefore, even if other food and drink are erroneously placed on the belt conveyor in the kitchen while the belt conveyor is in operation, the gate prevents the food and drink from leaving the kitchen toward the audience seats. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the food and drink from being erroneously transported to an unintended audience seat.

The ordered food and drink conveying apparatus may further include a first optical sensor that receives and emits detection light between the beginning and end of the belt conveyor, the stopper allows the detection light to pass through, and the control device may refuse to accept the next conveyance start operation until the first optical sensor receives the detection light when the conveyance start operation is performed. With such an ordered food/drink conveying device, even if a transfer start operation is performed before the food/drinks conveyed to the audience seats are removed from the belt conveyor, the acceptance of the operation is refused and the next food/drink is not started to be conveyed.

In addition, the ordered food and drink conveying device may further include a second optical sensor near the audience seats that receives and emits detection light between the left and right sides of the belt conveyor, and the control device may accept a conveyance start operation while the second optical sensor is receiving the detection light. With such an ordered food and drink conveying apparatus, when the food and drink conveyed to the audience seats are removed from the belt conveyor, it is possible to start conveying the next food and drink.

Further, the control device may adjust the stop position of the belt conveyor so that the center of the food to be conveyed is the center of the stop zone set next to the audience seats. With such an ordered food and drink conveying apparatus, it is possible to suppress erroneous detection of whether or not the food and drink conveyed to the audience seats have been removed from the belt conveyor.

With the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus, even if food and drink are mistakenly placed on the belt conveyor while the belt conveyor is in operation, it is possible to prevent the food and drink from being erroneously conveyed to unintended audience seats.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an ordered food and drink conveying apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the processing flow of the pitch feeding operation realized by the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus. FIG. 3 is a first diagram showing an example of the operation realized by the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying device. FIG. 4 is a second diagram showing an example of the operation realized by the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying device. FIG. 5 is a third diagram showing an example of the operation realized by the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying device. FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of an ordered food and drink conveying apparatus according to a modification. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the operation realized by the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus according to the modification.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The embodiments shown below are aspects of the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention. The embodiments and modifications shown below are suitable for restaurants that provide various foods such as sushi, beverages, rice bowls such as soba and udon, fried chicken and tempura to customers who eat and drink in the store as well as customers who bring food and drinks home.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10 according to an embodiment. The ordered food and drink conveying device 10 is a device for conveying food and drink prepared in response to customer orders from the kitchen 2 of the restaurant to customer seats 3L1 to 3L3, 3R1 to 3R3 (hereinafter referred to as "customer seats 3" when referring to unspecified customer seats), etc. As shown in FIG. The ordered food and drink conveying device 10 includes a belt conveyor 20 forming a conveying path from the kitchen 2 side of the restaurant to the seating area. The ordered food and drink conveying device 10 conveys food and drink placed on various types of tableware such as plates.

The belt conveyor 20 has a length that allows four plates of food and drink to be placed side by side in the kitchen 2 along the longitudinal direction. In the kitchen 2 of the conveying surface of the belt conveyor 20, the vicinity of the end part on the front side (kitchen 2 side) of the belt conveyor 20 becomes a placement area for staff to place food and drink, and the back side of the placement area (a customer seat 3 side) becomes a standby area for waiting for food and drink. An operation panel is provided near the placement area for receiving a transport start operation for designating a transport destination.

A dashed line shown in FIG. 1 indicates light detected by an optical sensor provided in the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10 . As shown in FIG. 1, the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10 is provided with optical sensors at various portions. For example, an optical sensor SK (an example of the “first optical sensor” referred to in the present application) is provided at the beginning and end of the belt conveyor 20 to detect the presence or absence of food placed on the belt conveyor 20 . Optical sensors SC are provided on the left and right sides of the belt conveyor 20 near the starting end of the belt conveyor 20 to detect the presence or absence of food placed on the placing area.

In addition, in the middle of the conveying path formed by the belt conveyor 20, there is provided an opening/closing type gate G (an example of a 'stopper' in the present application) capable of preventing food and drink placed on the belt conveyor 20 from exiting the kitchen 2 toward the seats 3. The gate G is an electric gate driven by a motor and can be opened toward the audience seats 3 . The gate G is made of a transparent material through which the light detected by the photosensor SK can pass, or has a notch through which the light detected by the photosensor SK can pass, so that the light detected by the photosensor SK can pass through. The gate G may be of a single-opening type or a double-opening type.

In addition, above or below the order-ordered food-and-drink conveying apparatus 10, a food-and-drink circulation conveying apparatus for circulating and conveying food or other ordered-food-and-drink conveying apparatus may be provided. In addition, shelf boards for placing tea cups, seasonings, menus, etc. may be provided on the upper and lower sides of the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10 .

The belt conveyor 20 and the gate G are controlled by a controller. The control device outputs a control signal based on the operation content input to the operation panel installed near the placement area and the signals from each sensor. The operation of the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10 realized by the control device will be described below.

<Pitch feed operation>
In the ordered food conveying apparatus 10, when food is placed in the placement area of the belt conveyor 20, the belt conveyor 20 performs a pitch feeding operation to move the food placed in the placement area to the standby area. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the processing flow of the pitch feeding operation realized by the control device of the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10. As shown in FIG.

The controller of the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10 determines whether or not the optical sensor SC has detected food/drink (S101). When food is placed in the placement area of the belt conveyor 20, the controller of the ordered food transport apparatus 10 makes an affirmative determination in step S101. If the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10 makes an affirmative determination in step S101, it next refers to the memory in the control device and determines whether or not the pitch feed prohibition mode prohibits pitch feed (S102). When the control device of the ordered food and drink transport device 10 makes a negative determination in step S102, it next refers to the memory in the control device and determines whether or not the counter that counts the number of food and drink plates in the waiting area is at the upper limit (S103). In this embodiment, the number of plates of food and drink that can be placed in the waiting area is three, so the upper limit value of the counter is set to "3". If a negative determination is made in step S103, the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10 operates the belt conveyor 20 by a predetermined amount (one plate of food and drink) (S104). Then, the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10 accesses the memory in the control device and adds 1 to the counter value (S105).

Further, when the control device of the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10 makes a negative determination in step S101, it determines whether or not the optical sensor SK has detected food/drink (S106). Then, when the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying device 10 makes an affirmative determination in step S106, it accesses the memory in the control device and sets a pitch feed prohibition mode flag in the memory (S107). When the pitch feed prohibition mode is entered, a negative determination is not made in step S102, so even if the plate 4 of food and drink is placed on the placement area, the pitch feed operation is not performed.

Further, when the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying device 10 makes a negative determination in step S106, it accesses the memory in the control device and resets the flag of the pitch feed prohibition mode and the counter value (S108). Therefore, for example, even if the food is placed directly on the waiting area instead of the placing area of the belt conveyor 20 by mistake, when all the food is removed from the belt conveyor 20 after that, the pitch feed prohibition mode flag, the counter value, and the transport start operation refusal mode flag are reset, and the pitch feed operation of the ordered food transport device 104 and the like can be executed again.

An example of the operation realized by the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10 will be described below. FIG. 3 is a first diagram showing an example of the operation realized by the control device of the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 4 is a second diagram showing an example of the operation realized by the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 5 is a third diagram showing an example of the operation realized by the control device of the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10. As shown in FIG.

In the ordered food conveying apparatus 10, when food is placed in the placement area of the belt conveyor 20, the belt conveyor 20 performs a pitch feeding operation to move the food placed in the placement area to the waiting area. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, when a food plate 4 is placed on the placement area in a state where no food plate is placed on the belt conveyor 20, the controller of the ordered food transport device 10 makes a positive determination in step S101, makes a negative determination in steps S102 and S103, and executes step S104. Then, the plate 4 placed on the placing area moves to the standby area as shown in FIG. 3(B). Then, as shown in FIG. 3(C), when the second plate 4 is placed on the placement area, a series of processes from step S101 to step S104 are executed to move the second plate 4 placed on the placement area to the standby area as shown in FIG. 3(D). Further, as shown in FIG. 4(E), when the third plate 4 is placed on the placement area, a series of processes from step S101 to step S104 are executed to move the third plate 4 placed on the placement area to the standby area as shown in FIG. 4(F).

When the number of plates 4 in the standby area reaches three, the counter in the memory of the controller of the ordered food conveying device 10 reaches its upper limit. Therefore, when the fourth plate 4 is placed on the placement area in this state, affirmative determination is made in the process of step S103, and the process of step S104 is not executed. Therefore, the fourth plate 4 placed on the placement area maintains the state of being placed on the placement area as shown in FIG. 4(G).

The description of the pitch feeding operation realized by the belt conveyor 20 is as above. With the order-ordered food conveying apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the state of the plates 4 placed on the belt conveyor 20 can be grasped by the two sensor lights of the optical sensor SK and the optical sensor SC, and the above-described pitch feeding operation can be realized. Therefore, the pitch feeding in the belt conveyor 20 can be realized with a relatively simple sensor configuration of the optical sensors SK and SC.

Next, a description will be given of the processing when a conveyance start operation is performed.

<Conveyance operation>
A control device of the ordered food and drink conveying device 10 operates the belt conveyor 20 to convey the food and drink plates 4 from the kitchen 2 to the table 3 when a transfer start operation for designating the transfer destination of the food and drink plates 4 placed on the belt conveyor 20 is performed on an operation panel provided near the belt conveyor 20.例文帳に追加Then, the control device of the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10 refuses the next transfer start operation until the food/drink plate 4 conveyed to the table 3 is removed from the belt conveyor 20 .

For example, as shown in FIG. 4G, when a transport start operation is performed with four plates 4 placed on the belt conveyor 20, the control device of the ordered food and drink transport device 10 accesses the memory in the control device and sets a transport start operation refusal mode flag. Then, as shown in FIG. 4(H), the gate G is opened, the belt conveyor 20 is activated, and the plate 4 is moved toward the specified destination. As shown in FIG. 4(I), when all the dishes 4 on the belt conveyor 20 have left the kitchen 2, the gate G closes. Then, when the plate 4 reaches the designated destination, the belt conveyor 20 stops. Then, when the plate 4 is removed from the belt conveyor 20, a negative determination is made in the processing of step S101 and the processing of step S106, the pitch feed prohibition mode flag and counter value, and the conveyance start operation refusal mode flag are reset, and the pitch feeding operation etc. of the ordered food conveying device 104 can be executed again.

In the ordered food conveying device 10, the gate G is closed when the dish 4 placed on the belt conveyor 20 leaves the kitchen 2, so even if another food dish 4 is erroneously placed on the belt conveyor 20 in the kitchen 2 while the belt conveyor 20 is in operation, the gate G prevents the food dish 4 from leaving the kitchen 2 toward the customer seats 3. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the dish 4 of food and drink from being erroneously transported to an unintended audience seat. Further, in the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10, since the flag of the transport start operation refusal mode is not reset until the food and drink plate 4 transported to the audience seat 3 is removed from the belt conveyor 20, even if the transport start operation is performed before the food and drink plate 4 transported to the audience seat 3 is removed from the belt conveyor 20, the acceptance of the operation is refused and the transport of the next food and drink plate 4 is not started.

<Modification>
Note that the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10 of the above embodiment may be modified as follows. FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram of an ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10 according to a modification. In this modified example, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as in the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10 of the above-described embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this modified example, optical sensors SK1 to SK3 (an example of the "second optical sensor" referred to in the present application) are added to the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10 of the above embodiment. The optical sensors SK1 to SK3 are optical sensors that receive and emit detection light between the left and right sides of the belt conveyor 20, and are provided near each audience seat. For example, the optical sensor SK1 has a light emitting/receiving part so that the detection light passes through the stop zone 1 slightly obliquely to the conveying direction so as to detect the presence or absence of the plate 4 in the stop zone 1 of the belt conveyor 20 set beside the audience seats 3L1 and 3R1. Further, for example, the optical sensor SK2 has a light receiving/emitting part so that the detection light passes through the stop zone 2 slightly obliquely with respect to the conveying direction so as to detect the presence or absence of the plate 4 in the stop zone 2 of the belt conveyor 20 set beside the audience seats 3L2 and 3R2. Further, for example, the optical sensor SK3 has a light receiving/emitting part so that detection light passes through the stop zone 3 slightly obliquely with respect to the conveying direction so as to detect the presence or absence of the plate 4 in the stop zone 3 of the belt conveyor 20 set beside the audience seats 3L3 and 3R3.

In this modified example, even if the optical sensor SK detects the plate 4, if none of the optical sensors SK1 to SK3 detect the plate 4, the transport start operation refusal mode flag is reset. Therefore, in this modified example, the following operations can be realized. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the operation realized by the control device of the ordered food/drink conveying apparatus 10 according to the modification.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7(I), it is assumed that the food plate 4 transported to the audience seat 3L1 or the audience seat 3R1 is not removed from the stop zone 1, and the food plate 4 is mistakenly placed on the belt conveyor 20 in the kitchen 2. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7(J), even if the food is removed from the stop zone 1, if the plate 4 of the food and drink that was mistakenly placed in the kitchen 2 remains placed on the belt conveyor 20, the process of step S108 is not executed in the above embodiment. Therefore, unless the dish 4 placed on the belt conveyor 20 is once removed in the kitchen 2, the transportation start operation refusal mode flag is not reset. On the other hand, in this modified example, when the food and drink are removed from the stop zone 1, none of the optical sensors SK1 to SK3 detect the plate 4, so the transport start operation refusal mode flag is reset. Therefore, in this modified example, a transfer start operation can be accepted without once removing the plate 4 placed on the belt conveyor 20 in the kitchen 2, and the plate 4 placed on the belt conveyor 20 in the kitchen 2 can be transferred to the audience seat 3.

In this modification, in order to suppress erroneous detection of the presence or absence of plates 4 in each of the stop zones 1 to 3, for example, the stop position of the belt conveyor 20 may be adjusted according to the number of plates 4 to be conveyed so that the center of the food to be conveyed is the center of each of the stop zones 1 to 3. For example, if the number of plates 4 to be conveyed is four, the belt conveyor 20 is stopped so that the center of the stop zone is between the second plate 4 and the third plate 4 . Further, for example, if the number of plates 4 to be conveyed is three, the belt conveyor 20 is stopped so that the second plate 4 becomes the center of the stop zone. Further, for example, if the number of plates 4 to be conveyed is two, the belt conveyor 20 is stopped so that the center of the stop zone is between the first plate 4 and the second plate 4 . Further, for example, if the number of plates 4 to be conveyed is one, the belt conveyor 20 is stopped so that the plate 4 is at the center of the stop zone. If the stop position of the plate 4 of food to be conveyed is adjusted in this way, erroneous detection of the presence or absence of the plate 4 in each of the stop zones 1-3 can be suppressed.

<Other Modifications>
Further, the order-ordered food and beverage conveying apparatus 10 of the above-described embodiment and modified example may be one in which a plurality of belt conveyors are combined in series to form one conveying path. Further, the ordered food and drink conveying device 10 may be provided with two or more parallel conveying paths from the kitchen 2 to the audience seats 3 . Further, the ordered food and drink conveying apparatus 10 may form a conveying path with a wide belt having a width that allows a tray to be placed instead of the plate 4, for example.

2 Kitchen 3 Seats 4 Plates 5 Trays 10 Ordered food conveying device 20 Belt conveyor G Gates SK, SK1 to 3, SC Optical sensors

Claims (3)

One belt conveyor on which food and drinks to be transported from the kitchen of the restaurant to the customer seats are placed,
an opening/closing type stopper provided in the middle of the conveying path formed by the belt conveyor and capable of preventing food and drink placed on the belt conveyor from exiting the kitchen toward the audience seats;
a control device that temporarily opens the stopper until the food and drink placed on the belt conveyor are transported to the audience seats when a transport start operation is performed;
A first optical sensor that receives and emits detection light between the beginning and end of the belt conveyor ,
the stopper allows the detection light to pass through,
When the transportation start operation is performed, the control device refuses to accept the next transportation start operation until the first optical sensor receives the detection light.
Ordered food and beverage transport equipment. A second optical sensor that receives and emits detection light between the left and right sides of the belt conveyor is further provided near the audience seats,
The control device accepts the transportation start operation while the second optical sensor is receiving the detection light.
2. The order-made food and beverage delivery device according to claim 1 . The control device adjusts the stop position of the belt conveyor so that the center of the food to be conveyed is the center of the stop zone set next to the audience seats.
3. The ordered food and drink delivery device according to claim 2 .

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